Rangers 3-0 Dundee: Player ratings + talking points as club icon hits 100th league goal to pile title race pressure on
How we rated the Rangers players in their 3-0 Scottish Premiership win over Dundee at Ibrox this afternoon
On a seismic Sunday of Scottish Premiership action, Rangers took full advantage of Hearts and Celtic drawing at Tynecastle by making it eight wins in a row with a 3-0 victory over Dundee at Ibrox.
The Light Blues were waiting in the wings to seize the initiative in the title race, and with the top two playing out a tense 2-2 stalemate in the capital, it was exactly the outcome that head coach Danny Rohl will have dreamed of after watching his own side get the job done without any major thrills.
James Tavernier’s spot-kick early in the second half set Rangers on their way to three precious points in Govan but it took late goals in stoppage time from substitutes Danilo and Djeidi Gassama to kill this game as a contest.
Gers fans were given their first look at new signings Andreas Skov Olsen and Tochi Chukwuani as Rohl made four changes to the team that started Thursday night’s 1-0 Europa League win over Ludogorets at Ibrox.
Danish winger Skov Olsen was handed his debut, while defensive midfielder Chukwuani was making his first start and Bojan Miovski led the line in the absence of Youssef Chermiti, who was omitted from the matchday squad due to illness.
While revived Rangers form in recent months has been particularly impressive, Dundee arrived in Glasgow in buoyant mood of their own after dumping fellow top-flight side Kilmarnock out of the Scottish Cup last weekend.
Having proved they can be a match for the top sides in the league this term and drawing 1-1 on their previous visit to Ibrox, Steven Pressley’s men were aiming for a repeat performance as they tried to frustrate the home support for as long as possible.
There was a six-minute delay to kick-off due to a technical issue relating to the pitch side VAR system in operation and the early exchanges gave both sets of supporters little the cheer about.
The hosts had the ball in the net after 14 minutes when Chukwuani headed past visiting keeper Jon McCracken only for the lineman’s offside flag to go up to deny the former Sturm Graz star a goal on his first start.
Callum Jones had the Dark Blues best chance of the first-half, but his strike lacked the necessary power to trouble Jack Butland.
New recruit Skov Olsen was struggling to make his presence felt on the right flank as Rangers huffed and puffed without ever seriously looking like they were going to break down a well-organised opponent until shortly before the interval.
Thelo Aasgaard tested McCracken with an effort from just outside the box that was comfortably smothered before Chukwuani’s low shot was turned away by the keeper’s outstretched left foot.
Rangers finished the opening 45 minutes firmly in the ascendency with centre-back Manny Fernandez attempting an overhead kick that flashed wide of the target after controlling the ball on his chest.
An intriguing second half lay in store and it was Rangers who picked up from where they left off. Within two minutes of the restart, referee Kevin Clancy pointed straight to the spot after Ryan Astley caught Nicolas Raskin just as the Belgian midfielder fired over the crossbar.
That decision left the visitors incensed, but Clancy stuck by his on-field decision amid the protests. And despite McCracken guessing the right way, skipper James Tavernier’s penalty had enough power on it to mark his 100th league goal for the club.
Djeidi Gassama and Mohamed Diomande were introduced after 54 minutes, replacing January additions Skov Olsen and Chukwuani as Rohl looked for his players to put the game to bed.
Busy Dees keeper McCracken then produced an excellent save to deny Mikey Moore’s effort after the Tottenham Hotspur loanee played a clever give-and-go with Miovski.
There was plenty of endeavour from Rangers but little quality on show until stoppage time when substitute Danilo capitalised on a loose pass out of defence from Joe Bevan to slow past McCracken from the edge of the penalty area.
Gassama added a third moments later when he cut inside from the left and curled a shot beyond the helpless McCracken to move Rangers within four points of leaders Hearts and two above Celtic.
Here, GlasgowWorld breaks down three main talking points and how the players fared:
Chukwuani impresses as Skov Olsen blows cobwebs away
There was plenty to like about Tochi Chukwuani’s first start. The Denmark Under-21 international show plenty of decent touches and can count himself unlucky not to get on the scoresheet from a first-half header.
As for fellow January recruit Andreas Skov Olsen, the on loan Wolfsburg wide man was deployed on the right-hand side but had little impact on the game. This will have blown the cobwebs away, having not played many minutes of late.
Winning run extended as skipper delivers again
Once again, James Tavernier was the man to produce the goods against Dundee, just as he did at the same venue back in August when the skipper’s late penalty rescued a share of the spoils for Russell Martin’s side on that occasion.
With Danny Rohl now in the home dugout, Tavernier was at it again but this time it took another penalty from the English to break the deadlock and reach another significant landmark by notching his 100th league goal in the process.
All eyes on Easter Road (via Porto)
Now they have overtaken Celtic into second place, Rangers can look ahead of a tasty encounter against Hibs at Easter Road next weekend in what will be yet another test of their title credentials.
Before then, Rohl takes his team to Portugal to face Porto in their final Europa League fixture on Thursday evening with it expected that the German boss will continue to rotate his starting XI.
Rangers player ratings vs Dundee
GK - Jack Butland (6/10)
RCB - Nasser Djiga (X/10)
LCB - Emmanuel Fernandez (6/10)
CM - Nicolas Raskin (6/10)
CM - Tochi Chukwuani (7/10)
CAM - Thelo Aasgaard (7/10)
RW- Andreas Skov Olsen (5/10)
LW - Mikey Moore (6/10)
CF - Bojan Miovski (6/10)
Subs used: Mohamed Diomande (4/10), Djeidi Gassama (3/10), Nedim Bajrami (3/10), Findlay Curtis (4/10), Danilo (5/10)